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Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca PLC will pump £300 million into UK drugs development in a ‘major vote of confidence’ in the country, the prime minister has said. Keir Starmer described the investment as ‘significant’ and said it would ‘futureproof thousands of jobs in Macclesfield and Cambridge’. AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot has thanked the government ‘for their efforts to improve access for patients’. The firm last year paused a planned £200 million expansion of its research site in Cambridge and scrapped plans to invest £450 million in a Merseyside vaccine plant. Cancelling the project in Merseyside, Soriot said in February 2025 company bosses ‘couldn’t make the business case work and couldn’t make the investment economically viable’. But at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer told the Commons: ‘Today I can announce a significant new investment by AstraZeneca, investing £300 million in UK life sciences, made possible by the pharmaceutical arrangement we have struck with the US, to futureproof thousands of jobs in Macclesfield and in Cambridge. ‘That is a major vote of confidence in the UK and Labour’s plans to strengthen our economy.’ Starmer also told MPs he was ‘proud that Labour is investing in life sciences’. Soriot said: ‘We would like to thank the British government for their efforts to improve access for patients, including four new approvals since the beginning of the year across the UK. And we look forward to further enhancing the access and the reimbursement environment and build a strong life sciences sector. ‘I’m very happy to share today that we look forward to completing the construction of the Rosalind Franklin building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. ‘We are investing a total of £300 million in the UK, which includes investment in our Macclesfield site, including a lab of the future that will use digital and data tools to advance drug development.’ AstraZeneca shares fell 1.8% to 13,652.00 pence each on Wednesday afternoon in London. By Will Meakin-Durrant, Press Association Political Staff Press Association: Finance source: PA Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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